April 17 2025: Mandate Thursday: A Christian to-do list

John Bellaimey

Mandate Thursday: A Christian to-do list

John Bellaimey, St. John’s Church, April 17, 2025

 

In the name of God, who loves us unconditionally, but still gives us things to do.

Today is Maundy Thursday, which is one of those old fashioned titles. Church talk: like Shrove Tuesday. I grew up Catholic, so Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, and Maundy Thursday is just plain Holy Thursday. The word “Maundy” is seven hundred years old, from England, and it means a commandment. A mandate.

And if we are paying attention tonight, we will notice a checklist of mandates. Edward?

 

1. This is my body. This is my blood. Do this in memory of me. Ok, we do that. Maybe we don’t take the body-and-blood idea literally, but we do that a lot.
2. If I have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. Uh, not very often. And there is no soap or scrubbie sponge tonight.
3. “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Do we? When we hear the Last Supper story, do we understand these maundies, the mandates?
4. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. Do we? The famous Golden Rule is easier than this one. Treat one another like you would want to be treated. But love one another as Jesus loved? I like to call it the Platinum Rule. Impossible to obey, but a noble goal.
5. Love one another and everyone will know that you are my disciples. Do they? Can others tell that you are a follower of Jesus? I don’t mean, do you tell people you go to church. I mean, is it helping? Are you helping?

 

We shovel the neighbors’ walk sometimes.

We take food to someone when they’re sick or laid-up.

We go talk to that person at a party so they aren’t left out.

We resist the temptation to be selfish or aggressive drivers.

Is that what the famous Way of Love means?

We give a kidney to a sister or spouse, or even to a stranger in one of those chains of donations.

We forgive someone who really hurt us. Cheated on us.

We promise something to a dying person, and keep the promise.

We bring a new baby home from the hospital, and no matter how

mad we get over the years, we never hit them, or call them names,

and by the grace of God they become loving adults.

We let go of a job or responsibility so a younger person can learn

and we do our best not to act like we are so great for stepping

aside.

We notice an act of kindness, and say so.

We notice someone being brave in the face of discrimination or

unfairness, and we tell them to keep at it. In fact, we imitate them.

We listen patiently and with curiosity to other people.

We don’t stop hanging out with someone whose suffering scares us.

We drive refugees to legal appointments or make sure they know what to do when somebody in a uniform wants to search the building (ask to see their warrant, signed by a federal judge, or tell them no thank you.

We volunteer to help build affordable housing, or tutor school kids.

But no, we don’t really wash anybody’s feet. In Bible times, you’d probably have a servant wash your guests’ feet, right at the front door, after they took their sandals off. Barefoot kids would wash their own. Footwashing is kind of intimate. Private. But I hope you’ll try it later, right after receiving the mandated bread and wine. [point to footwashing station] The kids are making sure the water is warm and the towels are fluffy. Rinse the feet of whoever just got their feet washed, and if you like, rub their feet as if there was soap involved.

You also could go to the back of the church and write down a prayer or wish, fold it up and put it in the blue glass bowl. In church talk, we call it a Baptismal Font. Nobody will read what we write. We’ll burn them at the Easter Vigil when we make the New Fire.

Also after communion, you could stop in the Chapel and one of the volunteer ministers will pray with you about whatever is on your mind, or heavy on your heart. There is healing in sharing a burden with someone else. With God.

As a community, we offer everyone a chance to do these mandated actions: we break bread, we wash feet, we pray, we study the Bible, we serve Christ in all people.

Mandate Thursday is sort of a crash course in Christianity, so that the fifth mandate might become a little more true about you.

 

10am Service